Hey guys! So I hope you guys liked the first chapter, I've gotten a couple reviews, but I'd like some more if you don't mind :P Anyway, just a reminder, this isn't about any of the original characters… The original characters are just there for the prologue, though they'll still be involved in the story. Come back for more, I have the next two chapters after this one written already. More reviews means I'll update faster ;)
As always, read, review, and enjoy!
I sat on the couch, staring blankly at the wall, a bottle of tequila in my hand. I'd tried to keep myself from drinking for Sydney's sake. But every time I'd recited my resolve to myself… It shattered my broken heart even more. "Be strong for SYdney. Keep it together for Sydney. Sydney needs you." It only drove me closer to the edge of insanity every time I thought of her. Her smile, her laugh, the fierce look in her eyes each time I kissed her…
Thinking about her tore at my heart, and I began chugging the tequila. I ignored the burn, and waited for the effects of the alcohol to kick in. Dimly, I heard the phone ring for the first time in days. I expected to hear Jill's voice. Or Rose. Or Castile. Hell, even Belikov had called a couple months ago.
Jill had been super persistent. She'd called several times a day, every day, and finally I'd answered and yelled at her to leave me the hell alone before I hung up on her. The next call I received was from Castile, and I-or at least my answering machine-had gotten an earful about how I had no right to treat Jill that way when she'd only been trying to help. They'd all kept calling. At first. Then the calls had dwindled down, coming with less and less frequency. The only one who ever bothered to call (though even she rarely called anymore) was Rose.
But the voice that spoke after the beep wasn't Rose. It wasn't even Jill.
"Adrian Ivashkov, you'd better have a damn good reason for not answering when the queen calls you!" came Lissa's voice from the machine. "I just want you to know that we all miss you. We want to help you, but when you shut us out like this, we can't do it. Please, Adrian… come home." Click.
I continued to stare at the wall. I'd been wearing the same clothes for nearly a week. I stank of sweat and vomit and alcohol. I hadn't shaved in weeks. I didn't care.
I'd burned all but three of my paintings. One was titled "Love', the one that I'd done so long ago, with the slash down the middle. The second was called "Flame in the Dark". It was the design I'd done for Sydney's shirt, but with more passion put into it. The third one was named "Gone". I'd done it about two months after she'd been taken. It was just layer upon layer of black. An empty hole. An unending abyss.
It was how I felt.
Sydney was my world. I thought I'd been in love with Rose back when. Rose had nothing on Sydney. Nothing.
I loved Sydney more than anything. I would have done anything for her. Given her anything. And then, just like that, she was gone. Ripped from me. When she'd been torn from my side, it had torn out my heart as well. She was my one and only love. I needed her.
What went through my mind the most since she had disappeared was what she had said.
"The center will hold."
It didn't.